Bad Science is my new favorite site. Last week I almost wrote a post about a study that showed that women prefer pinker colors while men prefer blue. The authors suggested that it was because women needed to be able to forage for berries and perceive emotional hues on faces when we were living in caves. My main concern with the study was that it seemed to be making the assumption that preference for color was inherent at birth.
Color preferences of all things seem like one of those things that would be largely culturally determined. How many of the women who prefer pinker colors grew up seeing pink everywhere? What about the status quo preference?
There is something else too though. Why did those scientists attribute the cause of the pink preference to our caveman days? They must know that culture plays a significant role in shaping our preferences right? In the nature vs. nurture argument, are they so firmly placed in the nature camp?
I think there are probably two possible reasons they would attribute the color preference to our ancestors:
- They wanted a study that would make a splash and get the money/fame/promotions.
- They fell victim to their own confirmation bias and attributed the cause to something they are most familiar with.
Another great reason to vary our experiences and work with people from other fields.
-zot
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